UPDATE – OUR WINNER
Congratulations,
Thank you all so much for sharing your stories of gratitude and thanksgiving. As my thank you, I’ll be emailing you a 50% discount code via the newsletter (hope you already signed up below) which you can use to get a copy of the hardcover version of DUE NORTH.
What a year of emotions and experiences 2017 has been so far!
It has been such a whirlwind of activity and news on a weekly basis that I haven’t even been able to keep up to post my regular “Latest News + Updates”.
Needless to say, 2017 has been my most rewarding year as an entrepreneur and freelancer. From travels that took me from Greenland and the Faroe Islands to Jordan and Nepal to name a few, being named 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year, and publishing not one but TWO books… One of which – LAGOM – has already been translated into 17 languages around the world!
If there is one overarching emotion I feel, it’s a deep sense of gratitude to not only do what I burn for, but get paid to do so too.
To share in this season of gratitude, I would love to give away two (2) personalized and signed copies of DUE NORTH + LAGOM. Who knows… I might throw in a few edible goodies from Sweden as well 😉
This means one (1) winner will win both signed books.
To enter, this is what you have to do by Sunday, December 31 at midnight (EST):
(1) Please subscribe to my newsletter below.
There’s a lot already in the works for 2018 including collaborating with a major brand that will send me to Oakland, Beijing, and Zurich for starters, plus more. And I would love to share updates, musings, opportunities, and other inspirational content with you in the new year.
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(2) Tell me in the comments below one thing you’re grateful for in 2017.
There’s so much more we are all grateful for. I’d like to hear at least one.
I plan on taking a much needed break from social media the last two weeks of December. This means I would like to send the winner these books in early January so they can serve as some source of inspiration as well as start the new year.
Please share the love by sharing this giveaway with others. Every word of encouragement, every share, every purchase, every comment of support over the years has been crucial in bringing me this far. Thank you so much for your continued support and love.
Thanks so much Sophia! Thanks so much for sharing your story and wishing you a Happy New Year!
I am thankful for my husband who is by my side every day and night ( I have a muscular-atrophy and would be like a fish out of water but with him I am able to fly).
Best regards from Cologne and a happy new Year for you and all your beloved, dear Lola Akinmade Åkerström!
Thank you so much for sharing, Vera!! Wishing you a Happy New Year as well!
Thanks a lot!
I’m grateful for the community of friends that grew and became stronger over the last year! Sharing ups and downs, lots of memorable moments together, support each other, travel and of course lots of dinners cooked by ourselves. Well, I guess we are exploring together in Stockholm how to live abroad and to live LAGOM:)
Lola, congratulations with lots of achievements this year!
Thanks so much Kate and here’s to a wonderful 2018 for you as well!
Agradezco por los pequeños y grandes cambios…mudarme de casa, dejar el empleo que no me gustaba, seguir mis sueños; agradezco por la valentía de terminar ciclos, relaciones y dejar de repetir lo que me hace daño. Agradezco por los viejos y los nuevos amigos, por la familia, las mascotas, la comida deliciosa, las risas y las lágrimas que me han ayudado a limpiar mi alma.
Muchas gracias Paula!!
Youre such an inspiration Lola! And of course I’d like to participate in this.
I’m so grateful for the adventure 2017 meant for me. I decided in the beginning of the year to go for passion and it ended up in quitting my job for my own business. A dream come true! And plenty of travels, where the Costa Brava trips was on of the best ones!
Thanks so much Jenn! Congratulations on starting your own business and here’s to an amazing 2018 filled with adventures for you!
2017 has been a year in which I’ve become even more grateful than ever for connection. Having spent the majority of this year traveling for work and then after leaving that traditional model of work for self-discovery, I’ve found ways to engage and connect with myself in ways that previously went undiscovered. Connection has also meant the ability to reach out across time zones and continents and oceans and worlds to cultivate relationships from a distance that maybe in 1917 would have simply faded away. I love connection, with self, with strangers, with friends, with the people I love, and I look forward to connecting even more in all of those ways and more, directly and indirectly, verbally and nonverbally. Connection.
Thanks so much for sharing Kelly! Connection is indeed very powerful. Every year, instead of resolutions, I pick focus words and the word “connect” was my word for 2015 🙂 – https://www.lolaakinmade.com/latest-news/focus-word-2015/. Looking forward to connecting with you in 2018!
Ha, what fate! Enjoying the way you played around with the different uses of “connect” and its meanings. All of it resonating. And yes, to 2018!
Congratulations Kelly!! You’re getting both signed books. I’ll be in touch!
Lola, thank you! This is such incredible news to hear and made me smile.
You’re very welcome!
I am grateful to be living my dreams … started almost 64 years ago in the lowcountry (aka marshes) of Beaufort SC and now can also call the Ionian Sea my second getaway location when I am not full time in southern Virginia. I am grateful to have my wife in my life and that we share kindred spirits even though it took us two other relationships to find each other. I am also blessed that I can gift smiles, money, time, advice, and other resources to total strangers (and of course family members and organizations) without much thought. In other words, I am happy when I am giving to others and know the universe and God richly rewards that spirit. Lastly, I am forever grateful that my Mom, Aunts, Grandfather, Grand Aunt and other family members, even though impoverished for money, had loads of riches they sowed into my life. Without the will to create personal opportunities and always be prepared to succeed … I would still be blaming the system, others, etc. Lastly, I am grateful for touching 1,000s of people over my 38-year work career and leaving multiple communities and several countries better than when I arrive. I will continue to keep my goals larger than any obstacles I may face as I live my dreams until I hear my final trumpet blowing. Happy 2018 and beyond to all who are in this thread. Lola … continue inspiring your followers. Count me in as one of them.
Such a beautiful post! So many things and people to be grateful for. Thank you so much for sharing and here’s to a 2018 filled with hope and promise!
I’m really grateful for travels in my home province of British Columbia with my 3.5 year old. I attended a wedding on a small, sunny island and played with goats at a children’s farm in my old university town. All with my toddler in tow. I’m also thankful I learned how to chop firewood, so I can keep my house cozy and warm on my own steam 🙂
I absolutely love and promote backyard travels! I think that’s one of the most rewarding ways of traveling many people take for granted. It helps you appreciate beauty in the everyday.
I am grateful for my family and good friends and the ability to see beauty in my everyday world both physically and in those with whom I interact. Life is good! Peace to all!
I love this line -> “..ability to see beauty in my everyday world both physically and in those with whom I interact”. Amen to that!!
I’m grateful for your not being afraid to work hard for your dreams and be completely transparent for those seeking guidance, inspiration and virtual mentorship. 🙂 Congrats again!
So great to hear from you April!! Thank you so much! <3
I’m grateful for my boyfriend and family who have encouraged me to follow my dream and work for myself. I’ve never been this happy!
The flexibility that comes with working for yourself I think is the greatest reward. Congratulations!!
I’m so grateful that I was able to celebrate my grandmother turning 100 in October! I’m grateful that I was able to travel to the US to see her, I’m grateful for 80 relatives who showed up and made her feel special and cherished, and grateful for her example of a life well lived.
That is pretty special! 100 years is such a testimony. Life goals right there <3
I’m so grateful we have the opportunity to plan exciting travel adventures!
Grateful for the gift of travel! Right there with you.
Congrats!
Thanks Caroline!
I’m grateful for the unbridled possibilities a new year brings.
Same here Stephanie! The unbridled possibilities as well as clean slates to start anew or opportunities to fully step into transitions.
I am grateful for technology that allows me to learn from people all over the globe… otherwise, the influences on my life would be much more limited. Thanks so much for sharing your creativity and your love of beauty with us. Grateful for that!
Thanks so much Lisa! And I agree. I think technology – especially apps like Skype, WhatsApp and FaceTime – that allow us to keep in touch with family and friends on various continents and see their faces 🙂
I’m grateful for the amount of travel I’ve been able to do this year. At at time when many people I know are struggling and suffering from the effects of austerity I seem to be finally getting the work/life balance I want and getting my life where I want it to be.
Thanks Anne! And congratulations on getting closer to the work-life balance that’s just right for you! Indeed. I’ve always seen travel as a privilege because I know many people who would love to explore the world but have commitments – from financial to personal – they can’t quite break away from just yet.